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30/08/2013

September is nearly upon us and I've been thinking of challenging myself into doing something for the month. I came upon this site a few weeks ago but had completely forgotten about it plus when I first read the challenge I thought "no way am I going to be able to do this as I'm not very good at drawing faces". Funny how these things happen isn't it? Because just this morning I posted on my facebook page that I should challenge myself in September and this afternoon one of my art friends posted on facebook if anyone was going to join the challenge. So that was that sorted :) So the challenge itself is to draw a face each day for 29 days. It was started last February which happened to be a leap year. I've only just come across the article so won't go into it but why don't you pop over and have a read its very interesting 29 Faces Art Challenge. As you can see from these Artist Trading Cards and Inches my face drawing skills definitely need to be improved. So who's going to join in the fun?

25/08/2013

So it'a a bank holiday weekend over here in the UK which means a lovely long weekend to play with all your crafty items without feeling guilty about not doing the more tedious jobs around the house. These butterflies were stenciled onto fabric a few weeks ago but I've not had time to do anything with them. So with the long weekend I decided that this was the perfect time to finish them and to catch up on some movies I've been meaning to watch. Here they are my textile butterflies with lots of sequins and beads. I can't decide which one I like the best. I'm drawn to both as they have different aspects that I like. Which one do you prefer?

I'm including this in the Handmade Monday blog over on Handmade Harbour. Why not pop on over and see what the other lovely crafters have been up to.

23/08/2013

After some much needed clean up in the studio - mainly paperwork I had a play with another of Wendy's digi-stamps. This time I used Flowers on the Hill #59 and made them into inchies (1 inch square pieces of art).

I've used Derwent inktense watercolour pencils to colour them in. I added some glossy acents glaze over the top and once that had dried I applied some micro-beads to add some texture.

21/08/2013

Yep that's the name of this digi-stamp - cool isn't it? My very clever artist friends over on Wonderstrange Arts create these drawings every week and post it on their blog for you and I to use for free..............yep that's right free :). If you like quirky and different then this is the place to go. I know digi-stamps have been around for some time now but its only in the last couple of weeks that I've actually played with them and I have to say I do like how you can manipulate the designs to become different sizes or reverse images etc. Here are 2 cards that I've made with them -

18/08/2013

Woohoo my first post as a member of the Handmade Harbour Design Team. Shall I let you into a secret?.................I've never used digi-stamps before. I've been using rubber stamps for over 15 years.

So this is another first. I have to admit I wasn't sure how I was going to go about using them but after the initial 'oh I don't know if I can do this' I started playing with my chosen design and found that I had so many more options than a regular rubber stamp. For example I was able to manipulate the size of the image- make it bigger or smaller, rotate to make the image a reflection of itself - ohhhh the possibilities are endless...............now can you tell I'm going to really enjoy working with these digi-stamps? yep I sure am.

So here is the card I made using the Birds and Gifts digi-stamp (189) I've kept it fairly simple just adding accents to the parcels using gems and adding patterns using a white gel pen and some coloured pens and thread for a couple of the parcels. I've also cut out random parcels to add some dimension to the card.

As you can see I've only used part to the digi-stamp there are 10 images to use alone or as a combination - just think of all the different cards you can make just from this one digi-stamp.I'm also linking this post to Handmade Monday - pop over and see what everyone has been creating.

14/08/2013

I'm excited to announce that I have been accepted onto the Handmade Harbour Design Team. Application was announced a few weeks ago on Handmade Harbour and I tentatively sent in my application and got accepted. We were told not to say anything until the official announcement - today - yay!!!! There are 12 of members including Wendy who is the owner of Handmade Harbour. Why not pop on over and see who is on the design team - there is a diverse selection of artists from different parts of the world. There will be a weekly challenge post over on the Handmade Harbour blog to which members of the DT will contribute by creating something using the digi-stamps which Wendy designs. Oh and did I mention you could even be in with a chance to win a prize just by entering the challenge? So pop on over to Handmade Harbour and meet the new design team and while you're there you might as well pop into the shop and have a look at all the lovely digi-stamps that are available - I'd suggest getting yourself a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits or cake as you could be there sometime. Happy Crafting Anita

11/08/2013

Yep it's all about the paper cranes that were made for my friend Nancy's (Nanner) wedding day. The challenge was to make 1000 cranes to display at the wedding. So we -that is myself and the other members of ATCsforALL - started making and sending Nancy boxes and parcels full of paper cranes. In the meantime Nanner had acquired a french dressmakers dummy (aka Frenchie). There were many suggestions as to how the cranes could be displayed but Nanner decided to make a wedding dress for Frenchie to wear at the wedding and what a dress it turned out to be. All in all there were over 1000 cranes made from all over the world. I can't remember how many paper cranes I sent may have been 15/20. I also made some very special cranes from cream silk fabric. I lined them to stiffen the silk up so I could get nice crisp edges. Then they were embellished with Swarovski bicone crystal beads. So why cranes? The Legend- Did you know that cranes are said to live for 1,000 years and that they mate for life? Those birds have ENDURANCE. 1,000 origami cranes (Senbazuru) is a Japanese legend that, in its traditional definition, states that any person who folds 1,000 origami cranes in a year's time will be granted a wish. Further, they are given as a wedding gifts wishing 1,000 years of happiness and prosperity on the couple. Isn't that just wonderful? Even though we couldn't all be at the wedding due to distance etc at least we were there in spirit sending Nancy and Richard all the happiness and love for their future. Here are a few photographs of Frenchie all dressed up in her beautiful crane wedding dress. My silk cranes were displayed in the corsage and the rest are in the dress itself.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my post and if you would like to see more creativeness please pop over to Handmade Harbour.

10/08/2013

I was so excited to see this photograph from my friend Nancy's wedding - it shows the lovely Sarah wearing one of my necklaces. Sarah gave me the skull beads when we met for the first time nearly 3 years ago at an Artfest over in Rochester New York and asked me to make her a necklace with the beads. I've used sterling silver wire with black onyx and crystal chips and the skull beads.Sarah and Nancy are both very talented artists. You can see some of Sarah's work over at Wonderstrange Arts.

05/08/2013

Sorry I've not posted for a few months but there has been a few health issues with ones parent which took up much of my time. Glad to say that things are going the right way and headed back into good health.

I hadn't totally given up on my creative endeavors in the last few months -making art was one of the things that kept me sane. I'm going to keep this post short and simple and share some pics of the artwork I've made. I'm also sharing this on the Handmade Monday blog where I regularly posted, shared and viewed other lovely crafter's artwork. So why not join me over at Handmade Harbour you never know what/who may come across.

Fabric ATC (Artist Trading Card)

This is currently in my private collection and can be seen at Art With A Heart in Altrincham

The 3 pieces of art work on the top row are Moo's - they are half business card in size and are inspired by the cards at Moo Cards The little pieces on the bottom row are inches - yep each is one inch square.